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Saturday 2 March 2013

Shisha Bars

A shisha bar in Westminster has tried and failed to claim an exemption created for specialist tobacconists.  I am not surprised, as I understood years ago that shisha bars had no such exemption.

In fact, it is almost impossible to run a shisha bar legally in this country since the indoor smoking ban was introduced.  Anecdotally, I understand that when Brent Trading Standards raid these premises, they frequently find other illicit practices such as tobacco on which no duty has been paid, breach of building regulations, breach of planning, underage sales, substances other than tobacco mixed in with the tobacco and often problems of anti-social behaviour.  Where the shisha bars try to get people to smoke outside, they frequently cause noise nuisance problems.

Altogether not a good business to be in.

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